'Invisible children' warning

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The "invisible children" of prisoners will also end up in prison unless more is done to help them, a new report says.

The report, released in Christchurch yesterday, says the estimated 18,000 New Zealand children with parents in prison suffer from physical and mental health problems.

They fall behind at school, and some are "walking powder kegs" at risk of following their parents into prison.

Report author Liz Gordon, director of research company Network Research, said government departments and agencies should review their approach to the children of prisoners.

"The lack of a coherent and consistent programme for the children of prisoners is making the next generation being in prison much more likely," she said. "I hope that each sector will examine its processes as a result of this to try to minimise the harm and maximise the good outcomes for the children to stop them ending up in prison."

The children of prisoners were "invisible" because there was little research or understanding of their problems.

The report sets out the findings from the first year of a three-year research project funded by the Lotteries Community Research Fund for community organisation Pillars.

Gordon said the report's findings on the health of the children were "shocking".

The report said: "Many of the children have emotional problems, which appear to get worse, not better, over time. A small number are walking powder kegs badly in need of high-quality interventions.

"There is evidence of significant physical sickness, too, and emerging major conduct disorders and mental health problems."

Children suffered from "anger, nightmares, bed-wetting, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, shame and attachment problems". Younger children experienced emotional upset, while older children experienced anger, violence and bed-wetting and adolescents were involved in drugs and "sexualised behaviour", the report found.

Caregivers interviewed in the report spoke of the traumatic impact on children after a parent was imprisoned.

"They just miss dad. Since he has gone they are bed-wetting, sleepwalking, having anger, bad dreams and desperation. These are all completely new problems that they never had before," one caregiver said.

One mother talked about the impact on her daughter. "She never really got over it ... She eventually ended up on drugs, trying to take her life several times."

More than half of the children lived more than an hour's drive from their parent's prison.

- © Fairfax NZ News